Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/882783
Department staff conducts most of the outreach and provides support for the project. ILC members are selected from CTA member ranks, and teams of two or more conduct professional development work- shops and trainings for educators around the state. e project was able to fund 184 members in its first year and 284 in the second and third years. For the next three academic years, 235 ILC members are funded. "ILC has af forded its members the opportunity to build the professional capital of our educators to be leaders for teaching and learning needs," says Marlene Fong, CTA co-co- ordinator for the project. "It has built an organizing culture around the need to support deeper and more rigorous learn- ing for all our students." Trainings and workshops zero in on instructional strategies needed to successfully teach the new standards. An English language arts session might guide teachers on the use of evidence to support writ- ing, or on how to engage students as they closely read texts. A science-based workshop might offer strategies for encouraging students to generate thoughtful questions, and for teachers to create questions that produce deeper levels of thinking. ILC is helping instruction of both peers and students to move to a coaching model, says ILC member Yolanda Muñoz, a United Teachers of Pasadena member who chairs CTA State Coun- cil's Curriculum and Instruction Committee. "Instead of 'I do, [then] you do,' it's 'Let's do it all together and go deeper.' " ere's no one single approach to the new standards, Muñoz says. Educators can explore the driving questions and what's needed to answer them. For example, her young students often ask why they need to know about fractions. She's able to explain fractions' essential function in music, cooking, chemistry and more. e learning comes when she asks them, "Can you recre- ate this and do something that makes sense to you?" — such as understanding how a garden's ratios and proportions affect yield and how many tomatoes they need to make salsa. Leadership as well as instruction ILC members go beyond training, however, and into lead- ership rol e s. Meli ssa C. Gi l b er t, ILC c o-c o ordinator and research associate at SCOPE, points to Madera Unified School District, where "some ILC members started out as classroom t e a c h e r s a n d h av e n o w b e c o m e a c a d e m i c coaches, assistant principals, associate super- intendents, and even a superintendent. Some members in Madera are now more involved in district work or in their union." In fact, many ILC members have assumed lead- ership in their local associations by becoming site reps, board directors and elected officers. One was elected to the NEA Board of Directors; several have been elected to CTA's State Council. Others have become involved in professional organiza- tions such as the California Mathematics Council and the California Science Teachers Association. Michael Delaney says ILC has opened many doors to lead- ership for him. "I and other ILC members have become part of statewide communities of practice, where we meet with super- intendents and district movers and shakers," he says. "I'm also " With the ILC, CTA is at the forefront of quality, educator-driven professional development that benefits all schools and all students." — CTA PRESIDENT ERIC HEINS An ILC training at CSU Fullerton in 2016. 54 cta.org Eric Heins Teaching & Learning L E A D E R S H I P ILC Key Benefits • Helps students learn. • Tailored to local needs. • Cost-effective. • Local educator led. • Grows local capacity. • Enables continuous improvement. • Values and respects educators. • Supports new state goals.